“And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.” (2 Samuel 12:22,23)
There is a time to beseech God to work in a situation. We may need wisdom to know which way to turn. Something or someone may hang in the balance and only God can intervene and rescue.
We cannot twist God’s arm and get Him to do other than He chooses to. His “no” has reasons that are often inexplicable to us. But worse than perplexity is regret that we failed to seek God when we should have. Yes, we can “ask amiss;” but, we can also “have not because we asked not.”
Whether we sought God or not, crises pass. We no longer stand at the crossroads of yesterday. Things get resolved one way or another. What will we do looking back? If we have enlisted God’s aid and honestly sought Him, we can rest in whatever the outcome is, even if it is not what we wanted. But if we left Him out of the equation, we must always “second guess” what might have been – if we had earnestly prayed.